I should post about our amazing spring break vacation. . .
I should NOT post and get to my list of things I need to do. . .
I should contemplate what I am going to make for dinner. . .
But I am going to discuss something on my mind instead.
This has bothered me for awhile; I try not to think about it.
So, We know that Dallin has what is known as Central Auditory Processing Disorder.
Okay, maybe we don't KNOW that.
But I do; because it is the only diagnosis I have and I am going to cling to it for now.
(The neuro-psychologist diagnosed it, not an audiologist. Apparently you only need to know about ears to make a formal diagnosis about how your brain works with them.)
How CAPD was explained to me is that he has no 'sound filter' in his brain. So he hears EVERYTHING, all at once. This was extremely painful for me to watch as he didn't interact socially on the playground in the lower grades. He couldn't distinguish what the other kids were saying, so he couldn't join in. It makes high noise-level classrooms painful. It makes it hard to communicate with him in a crowd. It makes him watch the subtitles on his PSP instead of just listening to it.
It also makes it so he has a hard time with his speech.
The poor kid has been in speech therapy since he was 2. Is there improvement? I think so. But I still have to really look at him when he is talking to understand him sometimes. Will this EVER be fixed?
He is so patient. He doesn't get discouraged. He handled it bravely as we added additional after-school speech therapy this year.
At the same time we got the CAPD diagnosis, we were also told his IQ is amazingly high, and that his 'coping strategies' are well beyond his age. (When he was 8, these strategies were on the level of a 35 yr-old).
Props to him for figuring it out in a world that makes no sense to his ears.
He was also tested and placed in the Gifted and Talented program.
Yep, Special Ed and Gifted and Talented all at the same time. How often does THAT happen?
On to my recent thoughts;
I read that gifted children had some distinct characteristics;
Extremely Curious
Intense interests
Excellent memory
Long attention span
Excellent reasoning skills
Well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis
Quickly and easily sees relationships in ideas, objects, or facts
Fluent and flexible thinking
Elaborate and original thinking
Excellent problem solving skills
Learns quickly and with less practice and repetition
Unusual and/or vivid imagination
Interested in philosophical and social issues
Very sensitive, emotionally and even physically
Concerned about fairness and injustice
Perfectionistic
Energetic
Well-Developed Sense of Humor
Usually intrinsically motivated
Relates well to parents, teachers and other adults
Extensive Vocabulary
May Read Early
Reads Rapidly and Widely
Asks "what if" questions
Enjoys learning new things
Enjoys intellectual activity
Displays intellectual playfulness
Prefers books and magazines meant for older children
Skeptical, critical, and evaluative
All these thing are SSSOOOOOO Dallin. But it was the last one that got me.
Asynchronous development
Yep, it is that last one that got to me.
What exactly IS that anyway?
This is the definition I found;
Asynchronous development refers to uneven intellectual, physical, and emotional development. In average children, intellectual, physical, and emotional development progresses at about the same rate. That is, the development is in "sync." An average three-year-old has the intellectual and physical abilities as well as the emotional maturity most other three-year-olds have. However, in gifted children, the development of those areas is out of "sync." They do not progress at the same rate. A gifted three-year-old child's developmental profile could look like this:
Intellectual ability -- age 6
Physical ability -- age 3
Emotional maturity -- age 2
Or this:
Intellectual ability -- age 7
Physical ability -- age 3
Emotional maturity -- age 4
Or this:
Intellectual ability -- age 6
Physical ability -- age 4
Emotional maturity -- age 3
Or any other combination of the three, although the intellectual ability is always advanced. (Some believe that it is possible to advanced physically, but not intellectually.)
The higher a child's IQ is, the more out of sync his or her development is likely to be.
Now I look at everything he does or has done wondering if he is 'out of sync'. Will he get in sync? Yea, eventually. But will it be before he is permanently scarred by the stony path of Elementary School Middle School and High School? I hope so.
I know he will be more successful than any of his peers can begin to imagine.
I know that people discount him because of his speech.
I know he will prove them all wrong.
I know this because he already has.
Just some thoughts.
Danielle
